Beach breaches planning laws

Heart of England's beach in Fillongley

There has been some media coverage recently on the Heart of England's "beach", called Heart Park, which has been set up in Fillongley. The latest development is a Facebook campaign to save the beach.

The simple fact is that this beach does not have planning permission. Indeed not only is there a considerable amount of other development on the site that doesn't have permission, but the Company is not even operating in accordance with its existing planning permissions. The Borough Council has had meetings with the Company and has tried to resolve this matter. However, our advice has been ignored, and the works have gone ahead, leading the Council to deal with matters through the Courts. As a result the Company has recently received a significant fine.

We must point out that we are trying to protect the Green Belt here and we are listening to local people, who have consistently been objecting to the nuisance that they are experiencing because of the beach. We will continue with such action if our advice continues to be ignored.

Councillor Mark Simpson, Chair of the Planning and Development Board said:

 "We do recognise that this site can provide a good day out for families. However, we also have a duty to conserve the countryside, protect the Green Belt, reduce traffic hazards and noise nuisance. Unfortunately Heart of England has ignored all the advice we provided to them.  If they continue in this way, we will have to consider further Court action again in the future."